Sectionalism \ Compromises

The 19th Century in America was defined by sectionalism and its bloody result, the Civil War. The country born in the previous century from thirteen disjointed colonies had by the time of the Civil War become starkly divided between the industrial North and the agricultural South. The two sections were economically and ideologically different. The North was increasingly industrial and progressive, especially in New England. The South hhad little industry and was generally conservative. Many politicians in the South were concerned with states' rights, which primarily came from the advancing argument over the fate of the 'Peculiar Institution"- slavery.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President on the largely anti-slavery Republican ticket in the 1860 election. The South, whose economy was based on the slave industry, was afraid that Lincoln, whom they called a "black Republican" would outlaw slavery. In response, South Carolina seceded from the Union in December. Ten other Southern states would secede, and the Civil War, the costliest war in American history, had begun.

The result was a destroyed country, 600,000 dead, and entire states wrecked. The South still had not recovered a hundred years later, and in some ways is still fighting the war. To literally add insult to injury, following the Civil War was the Reconstruction period, which was also violent and hard on the nation. Today the South is recovering in some ways, but many areas are still poor. Growing up in the South means growing up in a defeated county.

Sectionalism is a defining factor in American history. It began the Civil War and nearly destroyed the country. The war it started changed the country, and its grammar. Before the Civil War, people said "he United States are." Now we say The United States is. As the author Shelby Foote said, "That's what the Civil War did. Made us an is."